SYMARIP

Biography

Symarip (also known at various stages of their career as The Bees, The Pyramids, Seven Letters and Zubaba) were a ska and reggae band from the United Kingdom, originating in the late 1960s, when Frank Pitter and Michael Thomas founded the band as The Bees. The band's name was originally spelled Simaryp, which is an approximate reversal of the word 'pyramids'. Consisting of members of West Indian descent, Simaryp is widely marked as one of the first skinhead reggae bands, being one of the first to target skinheads as an audie ...

Symarip (also known at various stages of their career as The Bees, The Pyramids, Seven Letters and Zubaba) were a ska and reggae band from the United Kingdom, originating in the late 1960s, when Frank Pitter and Michael Thomas founded the band as The Bees. The band's name was originally spelled Simaryp, which is an approximate reversal of the word 'pyramids'. Consisting of members of West Indian descent, Simaryp is widely marked as one of the first skinhead reggae bands, being one of the first to target skinheads as an audience. Their hits included "Skinhead Girl", "Skinhead Jamboree" and "Skinhead Moonstomp", the latter of which was based on the Derrick Morgan song, "Moon Hop".

They moved to Germany in 1971, performing reggae and Afro-rock in Germany under the name Zubaba. In 1980, the single Skinhead Moonstomp was re-issued in the wake of the 2 Tone craze, hitting #54 on the UK Singles Chart. The band officially split in 1985 after releasing the album Drunk & Disorderly as The Pyramids. The album was released by Ariola Records and was produced by Stevie B.

Monty Neysmith and Roy Ellis made a separte band in 2004.Trojan Records released a best of album in 2004 with a new single, "Back From the Moon", performed by two former band members, Monty Neysmith and Roy Ellis. In 2005, Neysmith and Ellis performed together at Club Ska in England, and a recording of the concert was released on Moon Ska Records as Symarip - Live at Club Ska. In April 2008, they headlined the Ska Splash Festival in Lincolnshire as Symarip, and later performed at the Endorse-It and Fordham Festivals. The other band members, Frank Pitter and Michael Thomas now perform in a different band as Symarip Pyramid. Their "Back From The Moon Tour 2008-2009" has been with The Pioneers. Frank Pitter the founder of Symarip Pyramid currently holds all rights and trades marks for Symarip Pyramid since 20th April 2010.